Illegal immigration: The next battle

last updated 8 January 2015

At last, “an elegant proposal for immigration reform” that a majority of Americans can support, said Froma Harrop in The Providence Journal-Bulletin. Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York and Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina have crafted a pragmatic, bipartisan compromise that would provide a legal path for temporary workers from Mexico and other nations to enter the country to do necessary jobs. Those already here would get a route to citizenship—but only if they pay a fine and back taxes and learn English. In return, the new law would beef up border enforcement and crack down on employers who hire undocumented workers. Everyone in the U.S. would be issued a Social Security card with a biometric marker, such as an iris scan or a fingerprint, making it clear who is eligible to work in the U.S. and who isn’t. Sadly, “it will take a miracle” to get this bill passed, said the Los Angeles Times in an editorial. In the wake of the ugly fight over health-care reform, Republicans and Democrats are more bitterly divided than ever.

Dealing with illegal immigration will always be hard and divisive—“so why not now?” said The Arizona Republic. The Schumer/Graham proposal has all the elements for “meaningful reform,” with measures that should assure both those who want undocumented workers treated fairly and those who oppose a simple “amnesty.” Right now, we have the momentum, said Gabriel Thompson in The Nation. Just weeks ago, 200,000 people descended on Washington to call for immigration reform, and more demonstrations are planned throughout the nation. Latino voters have “growing clout,” and it’s time to let millions of people who want to work “come out of the shadows.”

There’s a much simpler solution, said George Will in The Washington Post. End “birthright citizenship”—the policy that automatically makes citizens of any children born to illegal immigrants on U.S. soil. That policy has served as a magnet for people to cross the border, and accounts for nearly 10 percent of all U.S. births in recent years. By tweaking the wording of the Civil Rights Act of 1866—a time when, it should be noted, there were no illegal immigrants—Congress can take away this incentive to cross the border. That reform, in itself, would “drain some of the scalding steam” from the fight that’s now brewing.